Alianza Latina Celebrates Cultural Heritage
ByJesse Diaz
Alianza Latina, a professional organization at the University at Albany made up of Latino faculty, staff, and students, will celebrate its cultural heritage with its annual Spring Semester Luncheon at noon on April 20 in the Campus Center Assembly Hall.

Steve Beditz, assistant vice president for Human Resources Management, whose office staff recently assumed affirmative action responsibilities, will be the guest speaker. He has been asked to briefly discuss the status of the Office of Affirmative Action, as well as the status of Latino student, faculty, and staff representation on campus.

Maritza Martinez, assistant dean in the Educational Opportunity Program and a former co-chair, says, “We try to choose a speaker who incorporates all aspects of our existence.”

Part of the organization’s mission statement states that alianza, or “alliance,” suggests the merging of efforts or interests of its members in their desire to “create an environment whereby members can gather in mutual support and understanding of one another, and where information can be exchanged.” Alianza Latina’s co-chairs, Robert Osuna, a professor of biology, and Librada Pimentel-Brown of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, said one of the benefits of a group like Alianza is that “if one of us has a concern, we have a body here that can listen to and act upon this concern.”

Several members agree. Alianza Treasurer Roberto Vives says that as a Latino track & field coach, encountering other professionals on campus who are also Latino was a “lifesaver, a lifeline - something to kind of fuel me.” Julio Serna of the Office of Academic Support said Alianza Latina has the potential to attract other Latino faculty and students to campus.

The group was begun in 1996 when several friends and colleagues met regularly for lunch and shared their concerns. After several informal meetings, they agreed that others could benefit from their solidarity if they formally organized a group.

Anthony Torres, one of Alianza Latina’s founding members and director of Multicultural Student Affairs, said several of the group members had attended UAlbany together and wanted to build a support group.

Alianza Latina has worked with professional and student organizations on campus, including the Black Faculty and Professional Staff Association (BFPSA), Fuerza Latina, Latino Greek Council, and the Graduate Student Organization. Student group representatives are invited to participate and to share their concerns at monthly meetings.

President Karen R. Hitchcock meets with representatives from BFPSA and Alianza Latina once a semester to listen to the groups’ concerns. Pimentel-Brown said, “The fact that President Hitchcock takes time out of her busy schedule to listen to our concerns and needs is very encouraging.” Because of these discussions, the President’s Diversity Task Force was created. Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Carlos Santiago chairs the task force.

Alianza Latina, an independent organization, has co-sponsored activities with on-campus and community groups. One of its most recent activities was support of the Albany for Vieques group event, which pertained to the critical situation involving Vieques, Puerto Rico, and the United States Navy.

The group has sponsored educational events like the Road to the Ph.D., a discussion of the process of obtaining a doctoral degree.

Two of the group’s current goals include building interactions with sectors of the Latino community around the Capital Region, and working toward establishing a scholarship to recognize outstanding scholarly work among Latino students. Osuna said, “We are ready to increase our visibility on campus . . . test our potential.” Torres added, “We want people to feel free to tap us for resources.”

The group’s newest member, Margarita Rodriguez, professor of international migration and Latino studies in the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, said, “Latinos already constitute the largest minority in some large cities and fuel the demographic growth in some states. In the near future they will constitute the largest minority group in the United States. Such a trend indicates the growing importance of Latinos in the United States and their new drive toward community building wherever they are well represented.”

Membership in Alianza Latina is open to all UAlbany faculty and staff. In addition, events like the luncheon are open to anyone interested in celebrating, or wishing to learn more about, Latino culture.

Latino Collegiate Conference
About 600 students from the Northeast met March 16 - 18 at the University for the 11th Annual Northeastern Latino Collegiate Conference, organized by UAlbany’s Fuerza Latina student group. The conference, “Yo Declaro: Latinos Claiming Their Community,” featured workshops, cultural presentations, and a banquet.

President Karen R. Hitchcock welcomed the students and praised their focus on critical issues affecting the Latino community. She noted UAlbany’s commitment to providing “first-rate, student-centered learning experiences to students who reflect the rich diversity of this state” and the University’s nationally recognized track record in hiring top Latino scholars. At UAlbany, 737 undergraduates currently self-identify themselves as Hispanic.

EAP Open House on April 10
By Carol Olechowski
It’s confidential. It’s conveniently located. It’s available to assist University at Albany staff with personal problems, work issues, health concerns, and self-enrichment. And it even offers programs just for pure enjoyment.

It’s UAlbany’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and it’s a valuable source of information on an extensive variety of subjects, including health and mental health awareness, finances, legal matters, interpersonal relationships, and chemical addictions. Located in Room 200 of the Management Services Building (2 University Place) and part of the New York State Employee Assistance Program, EAP offers a variety of programming through coordinator Roslyn Jefferson, CSW. Services include free assessments and referrals for depression, anxiety, and family counseling, as well as guidance in supervisory matters.

EAP was established at UAlbany about 18 years ago as “a joint labor-management initiative to provide all of the faculty and staff a completely non-partisan, objective and confidential service,” notes Jefferson. EAPs, she says, “have proven to be cost effective, because one of their primary goals is to increase staff retention rather than to fire troubled employees, and then have to lose time and money re-training new staff.”

EAP’s “brown-bag” Wellness Programs, provided at both the Uptown and Downtown campuses, are popular lunchtime information sessions that cover such topics as How to Find Resources for Your Elderly Parent, Personal Financial Management, Yoga in the Office, Introduction to Meditation, and Gardening for Fun and Stress Reduction. They attracted approximately 600 participants in 1999-2000, according to Jefferson. She also tailors classes to specific offices and “will bring them right to people’s workplaces.” Current “custom-ized” of-ferings in-clude stress re-duction workshops.

Other EAP-sponsored initiatives afford op-portunities for self-enrichment, health awareness, and personal safety. These include the annual distribution of flu shots; the twice-yearly Defensive Driving Program; and courses in t’ai chi and ballroom dancing. How to Design Your Own Web Page was one of the most popular classes last year. EAP also maintains a library of more than 100 videos, audiotapes, and books that staff may borrow.

In addition, Jefferson provides individual services to about 70 University employees a year. With more than 20 years’ counseling experience in the Capital Region, she is well acquainted with the offerings of the local service providers to whom she refers her clients. All contact, she emphasizes, is “strictly confidential”: Jefferson is the only EAP staff member, so she alone retrieves E-mail and telephone messages forwarded to her office.

A committee of UAlbany staff representing the various employee unions and The Research Foundation, The University at Albany Foundation, and University Auxiliary Services oversees EAP. Bruce Kosakoski, a motor pool mechanic who has served on the EAP committee for nine years and is its current chair, says that one of that group’s priorities is to provide programs that “bring people together across campus.” EAP’s offerings, the CSEA Local 691 executive vice president adds, demonstrate that “everyone at every level is important.”

That commitment to bringing employees together is especially important at this time, according to UAlbany President Karen R. Hitchcock. “The University is expanding so rapidly now, in terms of both physical facilities and technological innovation, that all of us have to work harder to preserve the sense of community that has always existed here,” the president says. “By offering the types of outstanding services and programs that bring faculty and staff together, EAP is helping to maintain the community connection that is such a cherished part of the Albany tradition.”

Personnel Associate Diane Reed, who serves as a permanent committee member representing the Office of Human Resources, is impressed also by the participation the committee itself attracts. “It is advantageous that we have members from within the campus community with particular interests and strengths. These individuals bring their expertise and help to suggest ways in which EAP can best meet the needs and goals of the University family through its many offerings,” she notes.

“I am very proud of our program and consider it a model,” says Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Steve Beditz. “To my knowledge, we were the first location in the state to earmark specific funds to create and staff the coordinator’s position. This dedicated resource has allowed us to recruit tremendously qualified individuals to serve as coordinator - most recently Roslyn Jefferson, who is doing a terrific job. To this day, most state agencies continue to fill that function on a volunteer basis.

“The University’s commitment to EAP can also be seen in the broad array of wellness training and topics of general interest that we present,” adds Beditz. “All of these are well beyond the traditional EAP model of simply offering information and referral to employees who might find themselves in distress - although we do a great job at that, as well.”

There will be an open house April 10 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the EAP office, featuring activities that include free “chair massages,” food, a low-fat cooking presentation by the Albany County Cooperative Extension, and an acupuncture demonstration.

Jefferson, who arrived at UAlbany in 1999, believes, “wellness spans the whole spectrum of life, both at work and at home. Problems at home can affect a person’s work performance, just as work concerns can affect home life. EAP offers a place where University staff can turn for compassion and help.”

To reach Roslyn Jefferson at EAP, call 442-5483 or E-mail eapforu@albany.edu.

Danny Kaye: Supreme Court Jester Opens April 19 at Page Hall
By Carol Olechowski
For most playwrights, Danny Kaye might seem an unlikely muse. But University at Albany Professor of English Sarah Blacher Cohen felt it was only natural to turn to the late actor-comedian for inspiration. In fact, for Cohen, collaborating with her longtime writing partner, Chicago playwright Joanne Koch, on Danny Kaye: Supreme Court Jester was almost like writing about a family member.

“My mother’s maiden name was Kaminsky, and Danny Kaye’s real last name was Kaminsky,” Cohen explained with a chuckle. “We thought we were related to him, although it didn’t seem likely.” Kaye also reminded Cohen of her brother, David Blacher, “who had a tremendous sense of humor.” The play is dedicated to Blacher’s memory.

Court Jester, noted Cohen, a Wisconsin native who has taught at UAlbany since 1972, is “based on one of the 20th century’s most lovable and perplexing personalities.” Kaye, born in Brooklyn in 1913, began his career as a teenager in the Catskills. In the 1930s, he met Sylvia Fine, who would become his lyricist, composer, manager - and wife. Fine “fell in love with him, wrote all his material, and promoted his career at the sacrifice of hers,” transforming him into a celebrity who would achieve international fame for his comedic film roles and stage appearances. Kaye also enjoyed a long association with UNICEF, for which “he entertained the world’s most needy children and was described as ‘one part Pied Piper, one part Sir Lancelot’ and ‘the unofficial goodwill ambassador’ for America,” Cohen recalled.

However, the funny man’s life also had a darker side, which Cohen and Koch explore, as well. “He suffered bouts of depression, and there were rumored affairs with Eve Arden, Sir Lawrence Olivier, and Princess Margaret,” said Cohen. Court Jester documents “not only the laughter - the unique chameleon acting, linguistic ability, whimsical singing, antic dancing, and madcap humor - but the pain.”

This “most musical of musicals” stars “two of the Capital District’s most accomplished singers and dancers”: William Spillane and Melissa Brown. Spillane, “a phenomenal young man who did a great deal of research for the part,” plays Kaye as he ages from adolescence to his early 60s. Brown, noted Cohen, is “brilliant” as Sylvia. Anschel Weiss, director of Jewish Family Services of Albany, portrays several of Kaye’s comic sidekicks from Brooklyn. Howard Schaffer, as Olivier, Sir Winston Churchill, and George Bernard Shaw, rounds out the cast.

Cohen is equally enthusiastic about the music and stage direction. Chicago-based composer Mark Elliott provided original melodies for Court Jester, which also features some of Kaye’s signature songs. Michael Larsen of Broadway and South Florida serves as musical director and accompanist. Matthew T. Teichner, “highly regarded for his expertise in developing new works,” directs the play.

University President Karen R. Hitchcock and Dr. Robert S. Herman, former state economic adviser and current humor expert, are honorary co-chairs of the world premiere, which is co-sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute and the University’s departments of English and Judaic Studies. Performances are scheduled at Page Hall, 135 Western Ave., Thursday, April 19, and Saturday, April 21, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, April 22, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The Saturday evening show will include a benefit reception.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for senior citizens, and $10 for students. Proceeds will benefit the Sarah Blacher Cohen Endowment Fund, which supports Cohen’s Woman of Valor Lecture Series and other cultural programming at the University.

A self-described “frustrated actress,” Cohen has collaborated with Koch for more than a decade. Their plays include Sophie, Totie & Belle, a musical about an afterlife meeting of Sophie Tucker, Totie Fields, and Belle Barth; and Soul Sisters, which celebrates the relationship between two women singers - one Jewish, one black - during the Civil Rights era. Koch and Cohen’s recent collaboration Henrietta Szold: Woman of Valor, now touring nationally, depicts the career of the Hadassah founder, who rescued Jewish children from the Nazis.

Cohen is also a well-known author and editor in her own right. Her favorite role, however, isn’t that of award-winning playwright or editor extraordinaire. It’s that of UAlbany professor. “I love teaching, and I love my students,” she commented. “They come from all walks of life, and I find them endearing and fascinating.”

For more information about Danny Kaye: Supreme Court Jester, or for reservations, call 442-3997.

Orchestra, Chorale Celebrate Pioneering Black Composer; Singers Sing Spring
By Jesse Diaz
David Griggs-Janower, UAlbany’s director of choral music, and Kirk Smith, the University’s di-rector of orch-estral music, will conduct two major concerts this spring. On Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m., the University Chamber Sing-ers will perform their annual spring concert in the Recital Hall of the Performing Arts Center. The University Symphony Orchestra and the University Chorale will perform the music of African-American composer William Grant Still on Sunday, May 6, at 7 p.m. in the Main Theatre of the Performing Arts Center.

The name of the Chamber Singers’ annual spring concert is “Beasts, Birds, and Bugs,” conducted by Griggs-Janower. He devised this year’s theme by choosing works spanning four centuries dealing with animals that have metaphorical meaning or animals in the titles of works. Some of the titles include the Lark Song, Chameleon Wedding, Sweet Suffolk Owl, Elephant Present, and Mosquitoes. In Mosquitoes, the University Chamber Singers imitate the buzzing sounds of mosquitoes, instead of singing.

The University Chamber Singers group is a vocal ensemble comprised of a cappella singers, all University undergraduates. Their repertory ranges from Bach to pop, from madrigals to spirituals, and from the serious to the light-hearted.

Griggs-Janower describes the May 6 concert as a way of introducing and celebrating the music of composer William Grant Still. Still, known as the dean of African-American composers, wrote more than 150 compositions, contributing to the African-American community as well as to the world of music. He was the first African-American to write a major symphonic work performed by a major American orchestra. Still was the first to conduct a major symphony orchestra in the United States, in 1936, when he directed the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and also the first to conduct a major symphony orchestra in the deep South, in 1955. Still was also the first African-American to have his opera televised over a national network in the United States posthumously.

Griggs-Janower describes Still as “a very talented composer writing some fairly tough political stuff in the middle part of the century. His music was often ignored by white people. We’re devoting the concert to his music.”

Professor Kirk Smith, who is also director of the University Symphony Orchestra, will conduct the May 6 concert. Smith’s orchestra will be accompanying the University Chorale to reproduce four of Still’s works. They will perform All That I Am, a light, spiritual piece akin to a hymn; Wailing Woman; and Those Who Wait. Griggs-Janower says Still (in these works) was asking why there was not more brotherhood in the world. “Imagine asking this in the 60s?” he says.

Griggs-Janower says the final piece, From A Lost Continent, provides a lighter ending to the two heavier pieces: “He (Still) made up the language and music he thinks evoke this lost civilization, called the land of Mu.” The orchestra and chorale performing these pieces are an assembly of undergraduates, graduates, faculty, staff, and community members. Griggs-Janower said the singers and musicians “exist to perform. They work hard for months to show the community what they have been doing all semester.” At the same time, Griggs-Janower say, they introduce the audience to works that are not well known. Two of Still’s compositions in this concert, for example, have only been performed twice in the past century.

Griggs-Janower is now in his 20th year with the University’s music department, teaching and directing musicians of all levels. Smith is in his second year as the University’s orchestra and concert band conductor.

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